


This Hero Business

by TrashedToPoo



Category: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Comedy, Dimensional Travel, F/M, I do what I want, Multiverse, Romance, Slight Implications of A Love Triangle
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-10
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2019-10-07 14:55:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17368004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrashedToPoo/pseuds/TrashedToPoo
Summary: Spider-Ham meets a girl trying to escape her hero past.





	1. Arrival

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a story featuring my Spidersona. I decided to write it because I am completely in love with Spider-Ham. If you have no problem with Jessica and Roger Rabbit than this should be nothing to you. He's a cartoon.
> 
> Anyway this takes place 2 years after the events of Into The Spiderverse

Prologue:

Ash Parks was once bitten by a radioactive spider in a college biology class, giving her super-human abilities. She gained the ability to make copies of herself that disappear after 5 minutes. She also began having vivid dreams of other realities where there were others like her, but she dismissed them as just dreams.

After a significant rise in crime and the death of her parents she decided to use these newfound powers for the good of everyone around her. She took on the name ‘Toy-Spider’ and began her life as the secret hero.

She discovered the existence of other spider-people when she accidently jumped into a dimension during a battle with her dimensions’ Electro. The jump took her to a reality where she met a version of Spider-man named Peter. She was able to travel with him back to her own dimension to defeat Electro. It was then she learned that other universes existed outside of her own. Peter told her that her ability was very rare and that she should use it to communicate with other spider-people in dire emergencies.

She fought many villains. Small-town thugs to corporate big-wigs and drug lords. A particular small-time scientist and drug dealer named Roberto Almos had risen to city-wide fame after trying to develop a new powerful drug and get it sold on the streets. After chasing him for 6 months she was able to find his underground lab and put him in jail.

Unbeknownst to Ash, Roberto was her friend Ollie’s half-brother and only living relative. Only to find out when she met up with her distraught friend and learned Roberto got life in prison with no hope of getting out. Roberto had been giving Ollie money for her college education and fueled her dream of becoming a journalist. With him gone Ollie was alone with no one to support her. She swore vengeance on Toy-Spider and in the remains of her brother’s lab, experimented on herself. She became the dimensions Green Goblin.

During an intense fight with Toy-Spider, Ollie was mortally wounded after she was impaled on steel beam. Ash was able to keep her alive long enough to reveal that she had been Toy-Spider for the past two years. Ollie cursed her for what happened to her brother but then forgave her as ‘she was almost like family to her.’ Ollie later died in the hospital.

After doing some soul searching, Ash decided that she could no longer take the pressure of being Toy-Spider. But with crime continuing to rise, the guilt consumed her. She decided she had to not only leave her city, but her reality all together. One where there was no one like her around. Where nothing was expected of her and where no one she loved got hurt…

 

 

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

 

 

Lighting flashed throughout the sky when Ash’s body formed and came together in this new reality. This particular jump had taken a lot out of her. Her body was more sore than usual. Tears in her suit, and cuts on her skin from the interdimensional travel were noticeable. She could barely keep her breath steady as she fumbled and fell to her knees.

She looked up. It was dark. Ash was in a dark alleyway between two large buildings. This was actually a good thing. No one had seen her arrive. Taking out her phone, she looked to see her new location. The screen glitched violently flashing pictures of a cartoon clown. When the phone stabilized itself her location read :Earth-8311. She had never heard of this universe. Nor did she know of any Spider-men from it.

She searched for other forms of Spider-man in her ‘spider communication’ app. The results were…’invalid term’? What did that mean? She tried the term ‘Peter Parker’ instead. The screen read : ‘No ‘Spider-man’ or ‘Peter Parker’ available. ‘Perfect!’ she thought. No Spider-man? Good! No expectations from her then. She was new, she was alone and she could start fresh.

Ash fixed the bag on her shoulder and picked herself up. What awaited her in this new dimension? Maybe she could be something boring! She walked into the street and noticed something was very…off about this place. Maybe it was just the street-lighting; but something about the cars and the street seemed more round. More bouncy. More rubbery. And somehow more…two-dimensional.

What solidified that notion was the people walking around the street. They were…anthropomorphic animals?!

Ash shook her head frantically. No…no…that can’t be right---

“HEY! MOVE IT LADY!!” screamed a cartoon stork driving the cab that was about to run her over.

She realized she had been standing in the middle of traffic this whole time. She quickly hopped on to the sidewalk. Backing up against a wall she took out her phone again. Where exactly was she? ‘Earth-8311’ was all the information that the phone provided before glitching again. ‘Great.’ She concluded this was some sort of cartoon-like universe. But all she saw was andromorphic animal toons. A cartoon universe? Cartoons existed outside of paper? It wouldn’t be such a problem if she had a little more information. If she remembered a certain movie correctly, there should exist cartoon humans here as well. If the movie was any sort of lore that is.

She looked around. Some of the inhabitants were walking past her and staring. Though this was a different version of New York, she stood out like a sore thumb to these people. She suffered from whispers and some even going as bold as to point to her.

Ash nervously chuckled and began walking away. The signs in this world all seemed to be bad animal puns for things that had already existed. That was certainly something to get used to…if she decided to stay here that was.

But what choice did she have? This was the only universe she knew of where she could be left alone—

“Excuse me, miss.” A small chipmunk said standing by her feet. He was cute and oh-so small, with the face of an angel.

Ash knelt down letting out a long ‘aww’. “Hello there!” she greeted. “Aren’t you cute? What can I do for you?”

“I was wondering if you could possibly give me something to eat. I’m hungry.” It said innocently swinging it’s body back and forth.

“Oh I’m so sorry. I don’t have any food on me right now.”

“Oh. Then I’ll just take some cash!”

“Wh-what?”

Suddenly the chipmunk took out a small switchblade! His eyes turned red and almost bulging. “I SAID GIMME YOUR MONEY, BITCH!”

Ash let out a surprised scream and jumped up. Without hesitation she kicked the toon into the street. It shrieked as it went flying and went SPLAT! on to the asphalt.

Ash’s chest heaved up and down quickly as she rushed along trying to forget that terrifying encounter. She scurried along until she came upon a small seedy looking motel. She definitely needed a place to sleep and collect her thoughts. If she decided this wasn’t the place for her she at least had to wait 24 hours before she could leave again. She went in to the front door and rang the bell on the desk.

A tall, rough looking dog-man came from behind a curtain, sloppily eating a drumstick of chicken.

“What?” she smacked and slurped as he spoke.

“Uhhh…” she hesitated. At least this was someone her own size. “I need a room until morning. How much?”

“$50”

Ash opened up her bag and took out her credit card. The dog-man scanned it and it made a loud beeping sound. He swiped it one more time and it did the same. He inspected the card. “Uhhh…don’t think we take this?” he spat dropping a piece of chicken from his mouth.

‘Shit!’ Ash thought. Maybe other dimensions didn’t all take the same currency…fuck. “I uh…I assume the banks are closed this time of night? Look, I only need a place to stay until morning. I can give you the money tomorrow when the banks open.”

The man shook his head.

“Well I have no way to pay you unless I wait. Please, I really just need a bed for the night.”

“Well…I could give you a room. If you pay me some _other_ way.” He chuckled rubbing the chicken wing against his fat stomach.

Ash shuddered and gagged. “I hope you aren’t implying…” she thought for a moment. “Sure. I’ll do it.”

The dog-man chuckled sleazily.

Ash leaned in over the counter as if she was about to kiss him when she suddenly punched him in the face promptly knocking him out. She reached over and took a key from the desk. She then groaned and made her way to a room. Acting like a villain was certainly not something she was used to doing but at this point it was do or die. She wasn’t a hero anymore.


	2. Not Quite Alone

Morning could not come fast enough. After sleeping in a TALKING rat-infested room, Ash was happy to see the sunlight. She snuck past the front counter and left the key on the counter as she hurried out of the motel.

The place was bright and sunny. Oh, she could clearly see the color and brightness of this place now! A Bustling New York full of wacky antics and cartoon physics. Things were loud and vibrant not at all what she was used to. And not at all like the night before. Funny how this place seemed to change depending on the time of day…almost like her New York.

Taking her phone out of her bag, Ash checked to see if she could find any more information on this place. The phone seemed to be stable this time. It wasn’t glitching, but she had absolutely no signal for calls. Not that she had anyone she could call in the first place.

Ash came to a nearby bench and sat. It hit her that she really was by herself. After her parents died she always had Ollie. After Ollie died, well, things were bleaker. Unlike Ollie, though, Ash had other family to worry about her. She had left without a word to anyone. What could she tell them? ‘I’m Toy-Spider and I’ve had enough of saving everyone’s ass’? God when she thought about it, it sounded awful. She had just abandoned everyone!

As she thought about it more, her eyes started to water.

For the past two years she put everyone’s needs before her own. Two years wasn’t a very long time to be a hero, but it didn’t make it any less arduous. She had always put her family and friends before her but this time it was on a greater scale. When was she going to figure out what she wanted to do? She jumped into this hero thing just because ‘it was the right thing to do’. What about what was right for her?

Ash felt selfish for even thinking that. But who said she had to be the one to save everyone? There were other heroes around, after all. She was one person. A small hero. She was no Tony Stark or anything. Who would miss what little she did?

A small tear fell from her eyes. This ‘living for herself’ thing was going to be much harder than she thought.

Ash looked down at her hands. The bruises and cuts from the travel were already starting to heal. That was a relief. Maybe the cartoon physics of this world would apply to her as well. Though unlikely, why else would her wounds heal so fast? They had never done so before.

A young lemur-woman unexpectedly took a seat next to her. She had some sort of tamale-like thing in her hands. As she unwrapped it to eat, Ash’s stomach started to gurgle out loud making the woman look at her. She giggled.

“Sounds like somebody is hungry.” The lemur commented. “I haven’t seen you around anywhere before.”

“Yeah.” Ash chuckled. “I kind popped in last night. I probably should have brought food for my trip and not just mone—” Ash suddenly remembered that her money was no good here! She needed to go to the bank and see if she could exchange what she had for this world’s currency. She quickly stood up and made her way to the nearest bank.

 ~~~~~~~~~

Ash stood in line with various anthro animals and creatures. All of different sizes and heights. It made her feel better. With others taller than her she could blend in easier.

The teller called her up to the window.

“Yes, hello.” Ash said taking out her wallet. “I’m not from around here and I was wondering if I could exchange currency.” Ash handed the teller her bank card.

The teller looked at the card and then back at her. “This some kind of joke, right? This is a fake card.”

“What?! No, it isn’t. Look, like I said, I’m not from around here so---”

“Pfft! You got that right. What are you some kind of---”

All of a sudden, gunshots rang through the area. Everyone in the bank ducked, but luckily no one was holding up the bank. The gunshots were coming from outside. They fired a few more times and the patrons all rushed to the windows to see the commotion. Ash retrieved her card from the teller and tried to make her way to the windows, but they were blocked by all the patrons.

More gunshots fired. Ash was able to poke her head in between to hippo-people to at least see that the police and thugs had moved their fight to the middle of the road.

‘Ugh’ she thought. At least she didn’t have to deal with that shit anymore. The police could handle it. Ash was about to go about her business when a red flash went swiftly by.

“It’s him!!!” a dog-person shouted and suddenly everyone was rushing out to the streets.

Ash was unwillingly brought with them, not being able to remove herself from the crowd quick enough.

Everyone cheered and shouted as the fight moved a bit up the road. The gunfire had stopped, and the police somehow looked relieved. Where had those thugs gone?

Someone else cheered and pointed as the two gunmen could be seen tied-up and hanging from a light-post a bit of a ways down.

“What the—”

Ash was then shoved forward with the crowd. Though she protested no one was paying her any attention. The crowd finally stopped, and Ash was brought near a police barrier. The police stood near the light-post and a small blue and red figure landed on the ground. One officer shook his hand. The figure looked like a little pig-man dressed like…. a Spider-man? Like the Spider-man she had seen in another universe. But that couldn’t---

“Spider-Ham!” some girls shouted.

“’Spider-ham’?” she whispered to herself. What the fuck?

Spider-Ham looked to the crowd and waved to the group of women who had shouted at him. He stopped suddenly and seemed to look in Ash’s direction.

She also stopped suddenly as her Spidey-sense went off in her head.

“Oh wow…” Spider-Ham said to himself.

“Oh shit!” Ash said immediately clutching her bag and turning to walk away. What was going? Her phone said there was no Spider-man in existence here! Was it a glitch from the dimension travel? Either way she knew just had a connection with the pig-guy. She had to move quickly.

“Excuse me! Citizen!” a voice called.

Ash knew she heard it. But she chose to ignore it, lest it be for her. She started to pick up the pace when the voice called out again:

“Hey! You! I know you can hear me!”

Ash started to run down the sidewalk shoving and stepping on anyone who was in her way. She swiftly dove into a back alley and stood against the wall. She took a moment to collect herself. That sure was close. The voice could no longer be heard, and it seemed like no one was chasing her anymore. She peaked her head around the corner and saw nothing but the crowd talking amongst themselves.

She let out a relieved breath.

“Did you really think you could out-run me?” the voice said quietly.

Ash turned around to see Spider-Ham hanging upside down beside her. She let out a loud yelp and made a break for it. This was too much! She had to get away. It was clear that this was not the dimension for her. She needed to jump either back to her own dimension to re-think and research, or just jump to a random dimension and go from there.

As she ran she closed her eyes and tried to concentrate. It hadn’t been 24 hours yet, but she had to try. Her body started to glow, and her feet lifted from the ground. Her legs disappeared and so did the rest of her bottom half. Ash’s whole body flashed, and the missing parts of her body reappeared. The travel had failed.

Ash immediately fell to the ground landing on her face. Her head began to swim. She was dizzy and disoriented. She looked up to see Spider-Ham standing over her.

“Whoa!” his now distorted voice said. “You alright?”

Ash was unable to even form a word to speak.

“Don’t worry. I can help ----.”

This was the last thing she heard before completely blacking out… 


	3. Spider-Ham

Ash’s vision was blurred and her head was still swimming as she finally opened her eyes. Her eyes adjusted to the light as things became clearer. She lifted herself up and a blanket slipped off of her. She was lying on a sofa in someone’s living room. She looked around at her surroundings. It looked like the living room was part of an apartment. Too small to be a house.

She held her head in her hands and groaned. “Where the hell am I?” she whispered.

“You blacked out on the street.” Spider-ham, who was now leaning against the arm of the sofa, said.

Ash yelped again. “Jesus! Do not freaking do that!”

“Sorry. Didn’t want to keep you in suspense.” He chuckled.

He was still full dressed in his costume.

“Where am I?”

Spider-Ham inched closer to her and narrowed his eyes. As he did, his nostrils followed suit. “I am unable to disclose that information.”

Ash’s eyes widened. “Wh-what?”

Spider-Ham then burst into a fit of laughter. “Nah, nah I’m just kidding! You’re in my apartment.”

Ash groaned. This thing was full of sick comedy it seemed. “Why did you bring me here?”

“I need to discuss something important with you. We could have done this you know, NOT in my apartment, but it’s not a good look talking to an unconscious girl on the street.”

“If it wasn’t clear to you before; I was trying to run away from you.”

“Not sure why you’d run from me. I know you felt what I felt when I noticed you on the street.”

“That’s exactly why I ran. I---it’s a long story…”

“I got time. Not very often I meet someone like me. What dimension are you from?”

Ash furrowed her brow. “How did you know that?”

“Duh! I’m the only Spider-person around here. I’ve dimension traveled before and by that little trick you tried to pull earlier, you can do it at will.”

Ash turned her head. “Sort of.”

“That sounds pretty sweet!” Ham plopped down on the floor and crossed his legs. “Tell me more.”

Ash looked at him with disbelief. “Are you kidding? You think I’m just gonna tell you everything about me? You brought me here against my will!”

“Hmm yeah. That’s so much worse than just leaving you to rot on the street, yeah?” he said sarcastically. “I was helping you, ding-dong!”

“Yeah sure! You’re a real hero.”

Ham gestured to himself. “Well yeah!”

Ash stood up in a huff. “Where is my stuff? You don’t need to know anything about me. I’m leaving. Just pretend I was never here.” She walked forward searching for her bag.

“You know usually the Spider-Fam is happy to find others like them. You must have done something bad if you don’t want me to know who you are.”

“It’s none of your business!” after looking behind the couch and under it’s cushions she got frustrated and gave up. “Fuck it!” Ash hastily headed towards the door.

Ham flicked his wrist and shot a web at the door covering it completely. “Hold up there—”

“You really want to do this?! I could punt you!” Ash grumbled angrily coming towards him.

“Whoa you don’t wanna tangle with me, sweetheart.” Ham warned. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

Ash couldn’t help but snicker. Though she was weak from that failed jump she was sure she could hold her own against a pig. As she reached for him, Ham jumped into the air.

Swiftly grabbing her by the arm, he pulled it behind her spinning her around and causing her to fall backward on to the floor. Ash cried out having hit her head pretty hard. Shaking it off, she jumped back on to her feet only to have her upper half contained by a slung web. Ham then leaped behind her and tripped her up. Making her fall over again on to the floor.

Ham jumped on to her chest and stood triumphantly over her. “You must be new at this.”

Ash struggled to get free. “Leave me alone! Let me go!”

“Listen, ding-dong, all you have to do is calm down and tell me what you’re doing here. I’m trying to help you out.”

Ash instead continued to struggle and thrash about.

“We can do this allll night, toots.”

Ash slowly started to wind down…slowly. It took almost an hour for her to finally exhaust herself, but she did. Spider-Ham sat on the sofa reading when he noticed the grunting and overall noise had stopped.

“Finished?” he teased

“Fuck you.” She grumbled under her breath.

“Now.” He hopped over to her once again and leaned in so that her nose pressed against his snout. “What are you doing here?”

Ash let out a defeated sigh. “If you hadn’t guessed already, I have spider powers…I got them about two years ago and became Toy-Spider—”

“’Toy-Spider?’ so you look cheap and scare children?”

“Ugh. No. I can clone myself. You know, like make more of myself. Like dolls. Toys. Get it?”

“Sure.”

“I also found out that if I concentrate hard enough, that I can reform in other dimensions.”

“I see.”

“Anyway, everything was going great until I put my best friends’ brother away. She swore revenge on me and became a villain named Green Goblin….” Just thinking about Ollie made Ash start to tear up. “I just want to live a normal life again. I’m not in any state to be a hero to anyone.”

“So you just up and left? What about your city that needs you?”

“Look, I’m in a cartoon dimension with a talking pig! You have no room to judge me.”

Spider-Ham shrugged. “Fair-enough. But don’t you know you have a lot of responsibilities with that power?”

Ash sighed. “’With great power comes great responsibility’. I know I know….”

“….That’s a good phrase, actually. ‘With great power comes great responsibility’. Huh! Glad I thought of it.”

“You didn’t think of that! I just said it. My mother told me that a long time ago when—”

“Nnnooo pretty sure I just thought of it. See?” Spider-Ham pointed to his hand which somehow had the phrase written on his palm.

“This is ridiculous.” Ash groaned. “Could you take this a bit more seriously?”

“You’re in a cartoon dimension and I’m a talking pig.”

Ash rolled her eyes. “God.”

“Speaking of power: I want to know more about your abilities.” He said ripping her out of her restraints. “Tell me, how is it you can jump dimensions without, you know, glitching and eventually dying?” he walked around her and examined her.

Ash sat up. “I—I—don’t know…”

“Can you jump now?”

“I think that’s why I passed out earlier. I’m supposed to wait 24 hours before jumping.”

“I suppose that makes sense.”

“And you’d better believe when that 24 hours is up, I’m outta here. I have to find a dimension I can stay in without feeling guilty.”

“Far be it from me to tell you what to do, but I think you should go back to your dimension. You belong there.”

“Not anymore. I’m not going back to deal with all that.”

“But---sorry but I didn’t get your name.”

“I didn’t give it.”

“Rude.” He sniffed.

“I mean you have me in this strange apartment and you still have your costume on. Who’s really being rude here? I don’t care about your secret identity. Not that it matters.” Ash went back over to her bag and starting rummaging through the front pocket.

“Peter.”

Ash looked over to see that he had removed his mask from his face. He was pink with beady cartoon eyes and a small tuft of hair on the top of his head. Pretty much how she expected him to look. “Peter huh?” She thought back to the Peter she had met before.

“Yup. Peter Porker.” He said extending his hand.

“…..” Ash was silent for a moment. Probably to take in that ridiculous name. “Not sure what I expected. Name’s Ash Parks.” She reached and shook Peter’s hand.

“I’m here to help you, Ash. Us spider peeps gotta stick together.”

“Then maybe you can help me by getting me something to eat. My money doesn’t seem to be any good here. I brought my debit card to the bank and the lady said it was fake.” She took out her wallet and looked over her card again.

He took the card from her and laughed. “You didn’t really think every dimension took the same currency, did you?”

“Well, I mean…kinda. Jesus, I just want something to eat.”

“I’ve gotcha covered on that.” Peter ripped off the remainder of his suit to reveal a t-shirt and pants underneath. “You like hot dogs? Of course you do.” He chuckled answering himself.

“Hot dogs? But—”

“Before you even say anything; they’re beef.”

“Oh. I guess so then.” Ash watched Peter stroll into his kitchen as she slumped backwards on to the couch. She groaned rubbing her face in frustration. “God. What am I gonna do?” she grumbled.

“Personally!” Peter called from the other room. “I think you should go back home.”

“Pfft.” Ash spat leaning her head back. “Fat chance. I’d rather stay here then go back. Besides, it’s not like I have anything or anyone to go back to. My parents are dead and I’m the only one who knew I was Toy-Spider. No one would ever understand.” She sighed.

“I’ve been in that boat.” Peter came back in holding two corndogs in his hands. “Turns out I don’t have anymore hot dogs, so corn dogs will have to do.” He handed one to her and grinned.

“Hmph. Thanks.”

“But yeah, only a few people I can really trust know I’m Spider-Ham.”

Ash took a bite from her corn dog which surprisingly tasted normal despite being the cartoon version of one. She took another bite and let out a depressed breath. “I shouldn’t have come here…”

Peter looked up at her. “You obviously need help. Are you gonna let me help you?”

“What could you possibly do to help me? Besides you having spider powers too, what could you offer me?”

“I see you have some reservations…It’s because I’m a pig isn’t it?” he asked bluntly sounding a bit insulted.

“As much as I love cartoons, it’s kind of hard to take them seriously in a situation like this. I mean, some little animal tried to mug me last night and when I kicked it, it made a ‘splat’ sound.”

“Yeah that’ll happen. This dimension isn’t too different from any other. People die here too. Except when they do it’s funny.”

“Is it?”

“No, ding-dong! The fact that you believed me means you have some real prejudices!”

“Ugh! See what I mean!”

“Relax I’m messing with you!”

Ash shook her head in frustration. “I’m not in the right state of mind to be messed with…”

It was in Peter’s nature to crack jokes in times of stress and gloom. Just to try to lighten the mood. Perhaps Ash was in more trouble than he thought. What exactly was going through her head? “You know…I’ve traveled dimensions before. By accident at first, but then me and a buddy of mine found a way to do it without it damaging ourselves. Your way is probably far better…”

Ash remained silent.

“Every dimension has it’s own problems, but as far as I know, there’s a spider-person in every one. At least the ones I’ve heard of. My buddy knows more about it than me. Maybe he can help you out.”

“Where is he?”

“In another dimension.”

“A lot of good that does. I suppose he’s a spider-person too?”

“He is. If you can jump to his dimension with me, we can see him and ask him what he knows.” Peter said. “It doesn’t hurt to try.”

“He’s just going to tell me to go back home…” Ash sighed. Suddenly her hand gripped her knee. “I won’t go back there…” she mumbled.

Peter had a look of concern. He leaned in to get a better look at Ash who was now starting to tear up. “You really hated being Fake-Spider, huh?”

“ ‘TOY’-Spider…and no. I enjoyed it for the most part.”

“Is there something you aren’t telling me? Just what happened back there?”

“Look, Peter, why can’t you just accept that some people can’t handle being heroes?”

“I understand perfectly. I just don’t know why you would leave your own---”

“Because I wanted to. Just trust me when I say my universe is shit! It’s unforgiving and it’s just plain dreadful!”

“Okay, okay…” he relented. “I’m just trying to understand your motives.”

“I just want to be happy for once. I want to be at peace. Now if you really want to help me just do it and stop asking questions.” She snapped at him.

Peter grunted.

Ash handed him her corndog and curled up into a ball on the couch. She covered herself with the blanket. “Just leave me alone, please. I’ll be out of your hair as soon as I can travel again.”

Peter’s face soured. He had never met another spider-person quite like her before. To say she was selfish and ungrateful was an understatement. Someone in her situation should be happy that anyone wants to help her at all. She hardly seemed worth the trouble. Just some woman who got in over her head with the hero thing. The sooner she left, the better. He’d let her mope for now though. He wasn’t the type to throw out a woman with no money or food out on the street.

“Let me know if you want my help before you decide to leave.” Peter said walking back into the kitchen.

Ash did not answer him. Instead she curled herself tighter and drifted off to sleep.


	4. The Hurt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm having too much fun writing this story! Thank you to all who are reading it. I made a Tumblr blog for my Spiderverse stuff so feel free to follow there for my stupid drawings and shit.   
> https://adventures-in-verse-jumping.tumblr.com/

When Ash awoke a few hours later, she wiped the dried tears from her eyes and sat up. The room was completely dark, it was the middle of the night. The sound of the rain hitting the window was almost deafening. Ash held her head in her hands as she lifted herself up from the couch. Tossing the blanket back, she groaned trying to adjust her eyes to the dark.

Her spidey sense hit her like a ton of bricks when she felt a presence near by.

“Nice to see you’re up.” Peter said standing in the doorway of his bedroom. “Are you okay?”

“I’m okay.”

“Good.”

“But I think I should leave. Maybe I can jump to a random dimension and go from there.”

“I don’t think you’ll find one without running into another spider-person. You might want to do more research before you get yourself into trouble.”

_Let him help_ seemed to echo in her head. What did she have to lose at this point? He was willing to help her and she did need it. She thought about it. She really did.

Peter said “If you take me to see him, we can both help you.”

“That’s okay. I’ll take my chances. I’ve already burdened you enough.”

“Trust me! I have had burdens, and this is not a burden. I want to help. Even if you weren’t like me, I’d want to help.”

“That’s nice of you, but this is a special situation. I wouldn’t feel right letting you do that.”

Peter had a look of annoyance and at the same time, concern. “You’re pretty stubborn, aren’t you? Did you always have trouble accepting help?”

_Let him help_

Ash moved to her bag on the floor and threw it over her shoulder. “Even when I wasn’t a hero, I wasn’t too keen on letting a stranger take care of me.”

“Uh, hello ding-dong! You have no place to stay and no money. You’re in a different dimension so you’re like, DOUBLE homeless here.”

_Let him help_

“It’s okay.” As Ash walked over to the door, Peter swiftly swung a web at the doorknob, covering it.

“It’s not. I’m not gonna beg you, but you really need to listen to me.”

_Let him help_

She removed the web from the doorknob. “I appreciate it, I really do. But I can’t. It was nice meeting you Peter.” Her voice sounded almost sad but a part of her just couldn’t accept his help. She wanted to start new on her own. Meet people on her own terms and let in people as she saw fit.

_Let him help!_

As she walked out the door the door the voices grew louder in her head. So loud that it hurt…or that could have been the object Peter had just thrown at her head at that moment.

“DING-DONG!” he called down the hall before slamming the door.

Making her way out to the street, the rain immediately soaked the uncovered woman. Ash held her bag over her head in an attempt to stop herself from getting soaked further. But it only saved the very top of her head.

She headed in any direction. She didn’t really care which way she went.

_You should have let him help!_

Ash was in a bad way. She needed help but for some reason didn’t want to be indebted to anyone for helping her. Before she was a hero she always accepted help. Usually because she never knew what to do on her own. She felt like she had a purpose when she was Toy-Spider. Like she was finally needed. She felt important. So many days she didn’t know what to do with her life. But being bitten was almost like a miracle. She was going to make everyone’s life better. Especially those she loved.

_Why didn’t you let him help?!_

The only one she couldn’t help was Ollie. Ollie had her life together despite her financial situation. She only had school. When Ash found out she had taken away her only financial help, she cold understand why she hated Toy-Spider. Ash could never find it in her heart the courage to tell her though. The fear of having Ollie not only lose her dreams, her brother, and then the one person she trusted above all else, was too much.

_Go back there! Let him help you! You can’t do this by yourself!_

Ollie was there when Ash’s parents passed away. And how did Ash repay her?... The sound of Ollie’s screams when she fell, were still fresh in her mind. She could never forget her voice.

_He wants to help your pathetic ass! Let him at least help you into a new life. You can’t go back. You are no hero. You’re nothing. You do nothing but ruin lives!_

Ash’s head was spinning now. She stumbled a bit off of the sidewalk.

_Be glad someone even cares enough to help! Go back!_

_Go Back!_

_Go back or just die!!!_

Ash came to when a large amount of water was splashed all over her from a passing car. She was covered from head to toe in dirty water. She gasped out loud trying to breathe. Quickly collecting her thoughts, she decided she had to go back.

 

 

Peter laid in his bed worrying when he heard a slamming knock against the door. He chuckled to himself hopping out of bed to answer.

Ash stood soaking wet in the door. Water dripped from her clothes and belongings on to the floor. Peter shook his head and couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Well, well. That didn’t take too long.”

Ash dropped her bag on the floor and fell to her knees. She immediately grabbed Peter and hugged him tight. “Please! Please help me.” She gasped.

“Whoa whoa. It’s okay…” he placed his hand on her shoulder. “I’m here to help.” Peter reached for her bag and inched it in the room. He then practically dragged Ash in after.

Ash sat in the middle of the floor sobbing lightly.

Peter looked her over. “Jesus, did you go swimming?”

“I got splashed.”

He opened her bag to fish for other clothes for her to put on. Everything in her bag was soaked from the splashing and the rain. “Sheesh. I’ll just throw this stuff in the dryer.” He grabbed all the clothes in her bag and headed to the washer and dryer near his kitchen. “You might want to get out of those wet clothes.”

Ash looked over at the blanket still on the sofa. She began stripping down until she was bare. She grabbed the blanket and wrapped herself in it.

When Peter came back in the room he noticed the clothes on the floor and Ash who was balled up on the couch again. “Just gonna—just gonna be naked huh? Cool, cool.” He came over to her and patted what he assumed was her back. “Your clothes are drying. We can talk in the morning, okay?”

“...okay.” she whispered softly.

~~

A few hours passed. Ash was unable to sleep. The thoughts of her previous life ran through her mind. Absolutely everything all at once.

_Tell him_

She had to tell him the real reason she left. He said he was there to help, after all. Even if he judged her for it, it was better than him thinking that she had just left to get away from being a hero or having any sort of responsibility. She gathered what little courage she had left and got up from the couch. Blanket wrapped all around her she headed to Peter’s bedroom door.

“Peter?”

He was asleep.

She opened the door quietly and walked over to his bed. “Peter?” she shook his shoulder.

He opened his eyes slightly. “Hmm?” he grunted. “What’s up?” he stirred rubbing his eyes. When they adjusted to the dark he saw the woman standing over him covered in his blanket.

“Peter? Can I tell you something? Something important.”

“Ah so you’re finally ready to open your yap, huh?” Peter perked up. “Good. I need to know as much as possible so I can help you better.”

Ash sat on his bed lifting her legs up and crossing them on each other, making sure to still stay covered. “I didn’t just leave me dimension because I didn’t want to be a hero. There’s more to it.”

“I figured as much.”

Ash sighed. “You know how I said my best friend became Green Goblin? Well, I was the one responsible for her death.”

“…Oh?” he commented not knowing what else to say. “How so?”

“We were---” she started to feel choked up.

“Take your time.”

“We were fighting. We were fighting on top of an unfinished building. She was winning.” Tears were already starting to fall from her eyes. “She was winning but I saw an opening. When she went to strike I swept under her feet and tripped her. She struggled to keep her balance. Then…Then she fell backwards off the building. I tried my best to get up sooner to grab her with one of my webs but she had really gotten me bad. I heard her screams stop abruptly but no thud.” Ash’s face was now covered in tears. “I’m sorry---” she said wiping her face. “When I got up and looked over the ledge I saw that she had been impaled on one of those skinny poles used in construction. She just…laid there with that thing through her stomach. I rushed to her and told her that I had been Toy-Spider all along…Not only had a never told her that her greatest enemy was her best friend; but I killed her…I killed her Peter!!” Ash finally broke down and sobbed uncontrollably.

Peter felt for her. He understood the pain that came with this line of work.

“I just can’t do it anymore! I can’t play hero anymore. I killed my best friend. You had to see her face when I took off the mask! She looked so betrayed! But---but even then she told me I was like family to her. I had to leave my dimension. My parents are gone and so is my best friend. I have nothing to go back to. Nothing to live for! I caused all this because I thought I could help people. I ended up hurting and killing the one person who thought I was worth something! I ruined lives as Toy-Spider! And I know I’m a coward! I know I ran from the other people who need me but, no one understands how hard this is! No one gets it!”

Peter hesitated at first but wrapped his arms around her neck to embrace her. “I get it. I really do. This hero business is not easy. It’s exhausting mentally and physically. Not everyone can do this…But I want you to know this…”

Ash looked at him attentively.

“This was NOT your fault.”

“Yes it was!”

“No! What happened was an accident. The one thing you have to realize having these powers is that you can’t save everyone. You just can’t. It’s impossible. I know she was important to you. You two unfortunately had to fight and what happened was pure accident. The fact that after you revealed yourself to her, she still said you were like her family, means that she loved you. And she didn’t blame you.” Peter looked at her seriously. More serious than he had been in a while.

Ash had no idea what to say. This was the first time anyone had talked to her about the incident. Somehow, he made her feel…better.

“It’s okay to want to start over. I understand. And now that I know the whole story; I know that you do need time to think. Everything is gonna be okay. I’ll help you find a place where you can rest for a while.”

“Peter…I don’t know what to say. I don’t deserve your help.”

“Now don’t start that again. I want to help you. You take me to my friend’s dimension and we’ll help you, okay?”

“Okay.”

“You need to get rest. You can have the bed. I’ll go to the couch.” Just as Peter went to move away Ash grabbed his arm and leaned her covered body against him.

“I know that this is weird of me to ask…but could you not go to the couch?” Ash pleaded. Her eyes still watery and pathetic.

“You—uh—you want—“he stammered.

“It’s just that I don’t want to be alone. You don’t have to. I know we are pretty much strangers.”

Peter chuckled nervously. “It’s okay, I guess.”

Ash smiled and laid on her side facing the opposite direction. “Thank you.”

“Sure.” Peter laid down facing away from her. This was sort of weird even for him. It had been a while since he had a woman in his bed. And never a human woman.

Ash however felt at ease. When Peter told her that everything was going to be okay: she believed him.


	5. Spider-Noir

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to all who are reading this story! It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.

The morning light shined through the window hitting Peter in the face as he begun to stir awake. He yawned loudly and went to stretch his arms when he realized they were pinned down. He groaned and turned his head to see Ash cuddled next to him holding him against her.

‘Fuck’

Was the only thought he had. That and ‘shit’. Not an ideal situation here. Peter swallowed hard slowly trying to wiggle out of her grip without waking her. He slid his arm passed hers and swiftly escaped her grip. He gave a sigh of relief when he hopped out of bed.

Ash let out a distressed moan as she herself started to wake up. Lifting her arms in the air, the blanket around her slipped off of her.

“Oh, goddammit.” Peter mumbled to himself. His life was starting to feel like a bad anime right now. He quickly covered his eyes and rushed out of the room.

~~

A few minutes passed, and Ash came out of the bedroom with the blanket around her like a towel. Peter was pretending to read some type of book on the couch to avoid locking eyes with her.

“Peter?” she moaned rubbing her eyes.

“Morning.” He said without looking up. “First thing: your clothes are dry so please get dressed.”

Without another word, Ash went to retrieve her clothes. “Umm…do you mind if I use your shower?” she called from the kitchen.

“Go ahead.” Peter answered. He watched her go into the bathroom before he shook his head violently. He had to stop whatever he happened to be thinking at the time.

~~

When Ash was finally fully dress and out of the shower, she found Peter sitting in the kitchen eating a piece of toast at the table.

“You might want to eat before we travel.” He said taking another bite. “I made toast, so you know, I’m like a chef and junk. But you can have whatever you want.”

“Okay.” she pulled out the opposite chair and sat.

“What’s wrong?”

“Well first, I want to thank you for last night. I’m not sure how I can repay you, though, for all this help.”

“I’m not worried about it. I told you we have to stick together.”

Ash smiled. “If you’ll allow me to get a little sappy; I want to say that I’m lucky I ran into you. So lucky that I don’t think it was an accident, you know? I mean I used to think my powers were more of a curse than a gift. But I met Peter who told me about the other dimensions, and now I’m meeting you who is willing to help me. I was so afraid you would judge me if I told you the truth, but you didn’t! You stayed with me and comforted me. You understood how I felt. I feel very hopeful now that I’ve met you.”

Peter smirked at her. “I’m glad I could help.”

~~

Ash threw her bag strap over her shoulder and planted her feet firmly.

“Okay.” She took out her phone and opened up an app with a spider icon. Her phone had stopped glitching and was working normally.

“How do your powers work anyway?” Peter said zipping up his jacket.

“I don’t know. I just concentrate on a number and I can form in that dimension. The first time I did it was an accident. I was fighting and I just thought ‘I wish I could be somewhere where someone could help me’.”

“So, you can grant your own wishes?”

“Not really. I’ve honestly only done a couple of times in total. Not counting me about to do it now.”

Peter hopped on her shoulders holding on to the top of her head. “Have you ever traveled with another person?”

“Nope.”

“Oh…that’s reassuring. Hope this isn’t like ‘The Fly’ and we get all stuck together and shit.”

“Well I don’t think it happens that way…I hope. Now what dimension is this guy in? I need to know the exact number.”

“Pretty sure it’s Earth-90214.”

“Alright. Just sit tight…”

Ash held her hands at her side and concentrated. After a few moments her body, along with, Peter’s, started to flicker. The room began to spin and with a flash of light they disappeared. The scenery changed to an array of bright colors and flashes that seemed to go a mile a second. Suddenly they were met with a bright white light that enveloped them both entirely. The colors abruptly stopped and they both stood in a black and white version of New York.

Peter opened his eyes and patted himself down. “I’m all here.”

Ash’s eyes shot open and she let out a gasp for air. She had several small cuts on her face now. Peter noticed a few on his own person.

“Are you hurt, Ash? I got some cuts on me too.” He touched the nick on the side of his face.

“No…no that always happens when I do it.” She said catching her breath. “Now who are we looking for?” she squinted looking at everything around her. She looked down at herself. “Why are we the only things in color?”

“That’ll happen here. We are looking for Peter Parker. Or in this dimension Spider-man Noir. He’s a private eye. This is a dark and gritty dimension so stay on your toes.” He said patting her head.

~~

Peter directed Ash through the city, getting weird stares from all the grayscale citizens, until they finally reached Noir’s building and floor. They stood in front of a door that read ‘Spider- Noir Private Eye’.

“I assume this is it.” Ash said knocking on the door.

“Now I have to warn you…he can be a bit brooding.” Peter warned hopping down from her shoulder and entering first.

They entered to find a tall man dressed in a black spider suit standing while on the phone.

“Petey!” Peter said to Noir hopping like a rabbit, complete with a boing noise emitting from him, on to Noir’s desk. He crossed one leg over the other and grinned.

“Ham…”Noir said waving his hand as a signal to leave him be. “---On the---”

Peter slipped his hand over the hook of the old rotary phone, promptly ending the call. “See, we got bigger problems than whoever that was.”

“Ham!” Noir shouted then shook his head in frustration. “What are you even---” Noir stopped himself when his spidey sense went off. His head immediately jerked over to Ash.

“Yeah…like I said. We got some issues going on here.”

“Who is this?” Noir asked coming towards her.

Ash took a step back from the intimidating, 6-foot tall man. She looked over at Peter in distress.

“ S’okay. Petey, this is Ash. She’s in need of our help.”

Noir looked her over. “You have spider-powers? Where do you come from?”

Ash took another step back from him. “Uh—”

“Petey! For Christ’s sake, unmask! You’re scaring the shit out of her. She’s one of us!”

Noir walked behind her and locked the door. “I don’t know about that…”

“I am just like you.” Ash explained. “I was even a hero at one point. I—”

“’At one point’? What are you now?” Noir narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

Ash shuffled her feet and moved over to where Peter was sitting. “Are you sure he can help me? I don’t think he wants to.”

“Nonsense. He’s like a dog. Gotta get used to your scent. Isn’t that right, Petey.”

“Could you not compare me to a dog? You’re the only animal here.” Noir said. “Well, your friend here is pretty mousy, to be honest.”

“Look, I came here with Peter because I need help! Stop giving me the third degree and just listen to me please.”

“Close up early, Petey. We need to go to the lab.” Peter hopped off the desk. “Thing is, she’s from another dimension. She doesn’t want to go back to her own dimension so we’re gonna help her find a new one.”

“Something about this doesn’t feel genuine. Why would she come to you for help?” Noir asked.

“It’s a long story. I’ll explain on the way. But she’s on the up and up, Petey. Trust me. You trust me don’t you?” Peter gave Noir a pathetic puppy-dog look. He even added the quivering bottom lip.

Noir rolled his eyes. “Fine.”

“Great.” Peter waved Ash over to him.

As Ash passed Noir she gave him a look of distrust. He did the same to her as he locked the door to his office behind him.

~~

The lab they spoke of was in the basement of Noir’s home. It was more advance than most of the things in this dimension. Noir had done his share of universe jumping in the passed two years and had acquired some high-tech gadgetry and information of his own.

“First things first: how did you come across Ham’s dimension? How could you possibly know about other dimensions outside of your own?” Noir inquired taking a seat in the dark room in front of a small computer.

Ash took out her phone. “I accidently jumped during a fight about a year ago. I met a guy named Peter Parker and when I told him my story, he gave me this app.” Ash said showing him the app with the spider icon. “He said I could use it to keep in touch and find other people with the same powers.”

Noir took her phone and started swiping through the app. “Have you been keeping in touch with him since?”

“Not really. But I have jumped once or twice to get help to defeat my more ‘non-human’ adversaries.”

Noir looked at Peter who hopped up on the table. “So it seems an alternate Peter Parker has been doing a little traveling of his own. Probably the same guy who developed this app.”

“I only found Peter’s dimension randomly. I searched for a dimension with no Spider-man but I ended up finding him anyway. So I guess it doesn’t work.”

Noir looked at Peter again. “Technically, he’s Spider-HAM. Not ‘man’. That’s probably why he didn’t show up.”

Ash groaned. “Fucking lovely. So it was a technicality?”

“At least we got to meet each other though.” Peter said smiling at her.

“That’s true. So it really was a good thing.”

Noir looked questionably at both of them before speaking again. “The real question is: why were you trying to find a world with no Spider-man?”

Ash immediately tensed up. “I—”

“She doesn’t like to talk about it.” Peter interrupted saving her from having to explain herself once again.

“And you trust her?”

“Well I mean, she told me but she doesn’t want to talk about it. There’s nothing untrustworthy about her.”

Noir sighed taking off his mask revealing his face. He took a pair of glasses out of his pocket and placed them on his face. “If Ham trusts you, I suppose I have no reason not to. Here’s the thing.” He turned to the phone still in his hand. “You’d be hard pressed to find a dimension without someone with some type of spider powers. As far as we know each dimension has a Spider-person.”

“I see. So I guess it’s back to square one…” Ash murmured sadly. “I have nowhere I can go.”

“You might be better off staying where you were at.” Noir said. “What was your alias?”

“’Toy-Spider.’”

Noir searched the name in her phone and a picture of her in her spider outfit popped up with words on the screen. He began to read aloud. “Ash Parks, age 28, dimension Earth A-24.”

Peter looked at the picture of her and chuckled. “Cute.”

“This Peter you met must dimension hop a lot. That’s not normal.” Noir said handing her the phone.

“Why isn’t it?” Ash asked.

“Usually staying too long in a dimension that’s not your own causes…problems.”

“Like death.” Peter said. “But Ash here hasn’t glitched once since she came to my dimension. It’s like it doesn’t affect her. And it’s not hurting me either.”

“That is interesting that she can do it at will.”

“Well you two know each other…and you’re friends. Haven’t you dimension jumped?”

Peter and Noir exchanged looks.

“Like you, it happened to us by accident two years ago. “ Noir explained. “Since then, Peter and I had been working on a way to travel without it destroying the person who traveled. We found a way…but it’s a lengthy dangerous process. We try not to use it too often.” His eyes glanced over to a large machine in the corner of the lab.

“So you two teamed up like I did?”

Noir coughed when Peter looked at him and grinned. “Y-you could say that.”

“The only thing is…I have to wait 24 hours before I’m able to jump again. And sometimes I get little cuts all over me.”

“It must be from your body reforming and traveling at such high speed.” Noir mumbled.

“You know…science!” Peter said waving his hands.

“*sigh* I know nothing about the Peter I met or anything so… I don’t know what I should do at this point…” Ash said sadly. She folded her arms over her chest.

“It takes 24 hours for you to jump? You should let me study you in the meantime.” Noir said.

Ash looked at Peter. Peter looked at Noir but then nodded at Ash. “You don’t have to, Ash. But I think it’d give us a better understanding of you.”

Ash nodded. “You might as well.”

~~~

After spending several hours drawing blood and running tests on Ash, they came to the conclusion that the spider that bit her was also from another dimension. Giving her and whoever travels with her immunity since it happens almost…naturally? Ash didn’t understand at all. Nor did she care. She was starting to feel weak and tired from all the tests they ran.

“Can we stop?” Ash asked looking at the time on her phone. “It’s late.”

“I think we’ve looked at all we can.” Noir said finishing up typing something out on the computer.

“You did great.” Peter said patting her thigh. “This could really help us. You are more interesting than I thought.”

“I suppose that’s a good thing.” Ash chuckled. “I need some time to think this out…” she remembered that she was in a real bad situation. “I assume I can crash here since I can’t jump.”

Noir looked at Peter and snorted.

“That snort means ‘yes’.” Peter said. “Crash on the couch. We’ll be down here. And Ash—”

Ash looked at him after standing up.

“Don’t worry too much. We’ll figure something out for you.” He reassured.

“Thank you, Peter.” She kneeled down to his level and gave him a tight hug.

Peter hesitated to hug her back but ended up returning the embrace. “Think nothing of it. We gotta stick together right?”

“Right.”

Noir watched the two embrace. He then returned to his work.

Ash smiled a genuine and heartfelt smile at Peter and made her way upstairs.


	6. Wrong Idea

The room was silent for a little while after Ash had gone. Peter decided it was time to break that silence.

“So….what do you think of her?” Peter said twiddling his fingers.

Noir took his hands away from the keyboard. “What do I think??”

“Yeah, like, how do you feel about her?”

“She’s certainly a person.” Noir said bluntly. “She’s kinda cold to me.”

“I mean…you’re the same, Petey. No, but she’s been through some stuff. I’m sure if she wasn’t so distraught she’d be a completely different person. I got her to open up a little to me though. She just needs a little bit of help.”

“That’s all you.” Noir said. “You can tell she must be grateful to you. It’s like she kept looking at you for help when we were testing.”

“You think? Cuz I noticed that too. Guess she trusts me.” A goofy smile spread across Peter’s face. “I think what she said was true: it was meant to be for us to meet each other. I’ve gotta be the one to help her.”

Noir raised an eyebrow.

“You know…I think I’ll offer her a place with me!”

“What?”

“She doesn’t want to go home, so she can stay in my dimension until she gets herself together.” Peter jumped into Noir’s lap. “Don’t you think that’s a good idea?”

“Hardly. How long have you known this dame?”

“About 2-3 days now. But I think this is destiny. We found each other for a reason. Maybe I’ll be the one who convinces her to be a hero again. I’ll show her she can rise above her sorrow and continue on.”

“Pretty noble and ambitious of you, Ham. I wouldn’t expect anything less of you, honestly.”

“Besides…” he hesitated to speak. “I felt a connection between us. I’m sure she needs me.”

Noir felt his heart sink into his stomach. “You sure about that?”

“I don’t get these feelings outta nowhere, Petey. You know that.”

“I do. But the last time you felt a ‘connection’ it was pretty risky.”

Peter laughed and gave Noir a gentle smile. “You say that like it wasn’t about you.”

Noir adjusted his glasses nervously.

“Nah but I think she’s like you. She would take me seriously…” Peter’s smile faded as his thoughts started to drift.

“…Ham—”

“Peter?” Ash, who was suddenly standing in the doorway, said.

“Yes?” Noir and Ham both answered.

“Peter…Porker, I mean.” Ash said. “Could you come here?” he finger curled beckoning him towards her.

Peter jumped from Noir’s lap and approached her. “What’s up?” he questioned.

Ash looked at Noir. She didn’t want him to hear her so she knelt down to Peter’s height and whispered in his ear.

“…Yeah. Sure.” He said blushing a little. “It’s no problem. Be right up.”

Ash nodded and headed back upstairs.

Peter started to feel almost literal butterflies in his stomach. A squiggly goofy grin spread on his face again.

“What?” Noir asked.

Peter coughed into his fist and walked forwards towards him. “She—uh—she has requested my company.”

Noir raised an eyebrow. “What sort of company?”

“Well, she slept with me last night. Guess she likes the company.” He chuckled

Noir’s eyes widened. “HAM! WHAT THE----” Noir lowered his voice after realizing he was yelling. “---- what the hell? You barely know her and you—”

“Relax, Petey. It’s not like that. I didn’t give her my smoked sausage.”

Noir slapped his hand against his face.

“My piggly-wiggly, my sweet meat…basically I didn’t…’pork’ her.”

“Godammit I wish you wouldn’t talk like that.” Noir shook his head in disgust.

“We only shared a bed. She didn’t want to be alone. When I woke up she was holding me.”

Noir’s face seemed to twitch a bit.

“And I’m not telling you to upset you, Petey. She obviously finds comfort in me. This is proof that, you know, she needs my help.”

Noir grunted.

Ash called  for Peter from the living room.

“I’ll see you in the morning, Petey.” He said rushing up the stairs to join her.

Noir was less than thrilled by this. He shook his head and continued to work on his computer.

~~~~

The next morning, Noir came up from the basement. He had fallen asleep in his office chair around three a.m. When he came into the living room, Ash was covered up on the couch while Peter laid with only a pillow under his head, on the floor beneath her.

Only Ash’s arm remained uncovered as her fingers were intertwined with on of Peter’s hands.

Noir rolled his eyes. He had a full on doubt about this ‘feeling’ Peter had about Ash. He went into his bathroom to wash up.

~~

Noir came out of the bathroom after his shower in his boxers and a towel around his shoulders. He was headed to his bedroom. He had not expected to see Ash awake in her pajamas, intently staring at Noir’s radio in the living room.

Ash turned to him as soon as she heard the door open. “…Hi.” Ash greeted trying her best to be civil.

But with the look of disdain that Noir had on his face, it was hard to keep a smile.

“Never seen one of these old-timey radios up close.” Ash explained.

Noir grunted. He looked to the floor to see Peter still asleep.

“Guess he was really tired.” Ash said walking to the couch and sitting on the arm. “He’s cute when he sleeps, isn’t he?”

Noir sneered and scoffed. “Could I speak to you in private for a second?” Noir lead her to his bedroom.

Ash was confused but she followed him. But not without looking at Peter, hoping he would awaken to protect her.

Noir closed the door. “Have a seat.” He commanded pointing to the bed.

Ash nervously sat. “Is something wrong?”

Noir walked over and stood his ground in front of her hoping to intimidate her. “Tell me something…you came to Ham’s dimension a few days ago, yes? What’s your honest opinion of him?”

“Peter? He’s great. He’s helped me out a lot. More than I could ever repay him for. He’s sweet and he makes me laugh. He’s fun to be around.”

Noir took a step back from her. “If you feel that way I’d like you to treat him like you’d treat anyone else.”

Ash felt like she was being punk’d. Was this guy serious? “Have I been treating him badly?”

“I understand that you like his company when you sleep.”

“Well—”

“He’s not a stuffed animal. He’s not a pet. He may be a cartoon pig, but he feels like any human.”

“I’m sorry?” Ash was starting to feel insulted. Plus, it wasn’t Noir’s business what she did with Peter. “I haven’t treated Peter like he was anything less than a person.”

“I get it. You were hurt. And I’m sorry. But I know your type.”

“My…’type’? Jesus, I didn’t realize I was talking to his lover.”

Noir was silent.

When Ash realized… “Oh..OH! Seriously? You’re his boyfriend?”

“I’m not. We’ve explored that option some time ago but that doesn’t mean that I want to see him taken advantage of. You cling to him like he’s your guard dog. Waiting for him to react and protect you. We both know that you’re going along with him because you think he’s endearing.”

“I think he’s great and clearly better than any human that claims to understand my plight. This is exactly why I wanted to be away from spider-people. Just because you haven’t had anything too traumatic happen to you, doesn’t mean you can judge. You protect your universe. Good for you. I did it too until I watched my best friend suffer and die because of something I did. Peter knows about me and he’s treated me with kindness and understanding. He understands me and I’m sure he doesn’t think that I’m out to take advantage of him.”

“Regardless of how you think it is, you are still taking advantage of his good nature. You are using him to run away from your problems. Ham makes you feel better but that doesn’t take away the responsibility that you have and what you owe to the people of your dimension. You’re distracting him from his own duty as a hero and he’s letting you run away from yours.”

“Fuck you, pal!” Ash shot up and shoved him back. “You don’t know ANYTHING about me!”

“I know that you just want something to run away to. Ham thinks you and him have some sort of ‘connection’. He’s got the wrong gal. Once things get too tough for you you’ll abandon him and look for someone else to coddle you.”

Ash shoved him again as if the pushes were making any of these things hurt less. “You don’t know me! I don’t know who you are, but you obviously hate seeing Peter care about someone other than you!”

Noir scoffed and turned his back to her.

“Look at me!” Ash threw a punch towards his shoulder blade but was immediately blocked by his hand.

Ash let out a groan and threw multiple punches at him rapidly only to have them all blocked. Noir then grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her against the wall.

He leaned in close to her face to speak when the door creaked open.

“Hey, look at you two!” Peter said before getting a good look at the situation. “All sweaty…and close…and worked up—what’s going on in here?”

Ash and Noir exchanged looks. “Nothing.” They both said.

Ash then shoved Noir away from her and scurried over to Peter’s side. “It’s been about 24 hours, right? I’m gonna go get dressed.” She touched the top of Peter’s head and exited the room.

Peter looked over at Noir and chuckled nervously. “You two are sure getting along, huh?”

Noir sighed ignoring Peter and going to get a shirt out of his closet.

~~

It was almost about time for Ash and Peter to jump again. The rooms had been awkwardly quiet for the past few hours. Noir and Ash kept exchanging looks whenever the came across each other. Like they were almost embarrassed to see each other. Or nervous.

When Peter was gathering some info using Ash’s phone down in the lab, Noir came down. At first, he said nothing. Until Peter was the first to speak up.

“So…what was going on with you and Ash?” Peter asked putting her phone in his pocket.

Noir turned his head. “N-nothing.”

Peter smiled and started to chuckle. “I mean, you two were alone in your bedroom with night clothes on. What’s going on there?” he sang.

“Ham…just be careful. Ash may be grateful to you but in reality she doesn’t owe you anything. Not her thoughts. Not her loyalty. Not her body. Nothing.”

Peter raised an eyebrow. “There you go with that cryptic talk.”

“I’m just saying that…just because you care about her doesn’t mean the feeling is mutual.”

The sudden sound of footsteps rung out through the quiet lab as Ash came down with her bag on her shoulder. “I’m ready to go, Peter.”

“Okie doke. Welp! See you around, Petey.” Peter said tapping Noir on the arm before jumping down from the chair.

Ash and Noir looked at each other again. But this time they didn’t look away from each other.

In Peter’s eyes, the looked like they were struggling with their feelings. “Psst! The word you two are looking for is ‘goodbye’.”

It was almost like they didn’t want to say it to each other.

Ash was the first to look away. “Goodbye.”

Noir grunted.

Ash hurried back up the stairs.

Peter looked at Noir. “Wanna tell me what that was about?”

“Don’t worry about it.” Noir bluntly said.

Peter felt his heart sink. They were both acting so strange. Like something personal happened between them. With what Noir said, it kinda made sense. Maybe the two had a deeper conversation that morning. Maybe they shared something Peter wouldn’t understand. After all, Noir was warning him that Ash does not owe him anything because…

As Peter started up the stairs he started to think more and more.

“Ready?” Ash asked at the top of the stairs.

“Ye-yeah.” Peter walked over and took her hand. He looked up at her and smiled.

Ash smiled back but it quickly faded. “Peter, I want you to know that I’m grateful for everything you’ve done for me. At this point I consider you a great friend. And I wouldn’t change what we have for the world. Not for anyone.” She sounded guilty.

Peter watched her as she started to concentrate on jumping. But her words seemed to spell it out for him. He may have been a great friend to her, but her and Noir had more in common and she was sad to leave another human like her who understood. She obviously had a crush on Noir. And he didn’t blame her one bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Noir is only a jerk because he cares too much for Spider-Ham


	7. How You Really Feel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is pretty short.

“I’m glad that’s over.” Ash said walking in behind Peter into his apartment.

Peter gave her a half-hearted smirk before shutting the door. “So, have you decided what you’re gonna do?”

Ash threw her bag down in front of her and arched her back to stretch. She looked over at Peter. “Well…I think it’s pretty clear that I can’t really find a universe without someone like me. So I guess I shouldn’t fight it. I just need to find a universe and chill there for a while.”

“You’ll find that no matter which ‘Spider-man’ you run into, we all generally want to help.”

Ash scoffed. “Like Noir?”

“I mean…he’s rough around the edges but he’s a great guy.”

Ash turned away from him. “Guess you two are pretty close, huh?”

Peter took a step towards her. “We…were…still are.”

“I see.” She said sadly. “Well, I certainly don’t want to come between the two of you.”

Peter cocked his head to the side. What did she mean by that?

“But then again, I guess I already have. It wasn’t my intention to hurt either of you.” Ash was more distressed than ever. Because of Noir, she really felt like a burden. “Especially not you Peter. You’ve been so good to me these past few days.” She turned to him again with a sad smile.

“I’m afraid that I’m not catching what you’re throwing.”

“…Noir said that you think you have a connection with me.”

Peter started to blush profusely. “Well I---”

“I would’ve agreed if Noir and I hadn’t---Nothing. I think you might be mistaken.”

Peter’s heart dropped into the balls of his feet. Any idiot could see what she meant. Something happened between her and Noir. It surprised him…but also didn’t. She was pretty broken, and she needed comfort. Noir was probably that comfort she needed. After all, they were both human. Peter wasn’t.

“I took advantage of you Peter…” Ash started to sob. “I’m not a good hero or a good friend.”

 “It really wasn’t a big deal. I was happy to help you no matter what”

Ash wiped a tear from her eye. “Peter you really are too good for me. Having a friend like you has made things a little easier. But I think it’s time for me to go. I’m going to find a hotel for the next twenty-three hours.”

“Are you sure? You’re welcomed to hang out here.”

“I’ve bothered you enough.” Ash knelt down and gave Peter a loving embrace. “You’re the greatest friend anyone could ask for, Peter. I hope I find someone half as amazing as you out there. And I hope that we meet again.”

Peter’s bottom lip trembled. Even though she had obviously made her choice, he wasn’t ready to tell her goodbye just yet. But the words couldn’t form. He just smiled at her. Keeping in his feelings.

He watched her get her bag and head for the door.

“Goodbye, Peter.”

As she opened the door, Peter let out a scream. No words…Just a scream.

“Ahh!! Ahh!! Ahhhh!” he continued not knowing what else to do.

Ash slowly closed the door and stared at him in utter confusion and quite frankly; terror. Ash spoke when he finally stopped screaming. “Everything okay there?”

“N-no. Look I don’t want you to leave yet.”

“A simple ‘wait’ would have sufficed.” She laughed.

“Yes, that was the more acceptable option, but I have to say something. I can’t have you leave here forever thinking that I’m okay with it. I do think we have a connection. You said it yourself! I feel like you were meant to find me, and I was meant to help you.”

Ash dropped her bag again.

“I have this funny feeling about you. A feeling I only get when I meet someone special in my life. I know something happened between you and Noir…and I won’t get in your way if you really like him, but—”

“Whoa whoa! What? Like Noir? I can’t stand him.”

Peter stood frozen. “But—you said you had come between us…”

“Yeah. He tore into me for accepting your help. He said I was taking advantage of you and distracting you.”

“Distracting me from what exactly?—Wait—no—but you said that you would agree about our connection if you and Noir…” he looked at her expectedly. “Hadn’t…”

“Hadn’t fought. When you came in, we had just finished fighting. He just pissed me the hell off!”

“Well now I’m confused.”

Ash couldn’t help but laugh. “What are you trying to tell me?”

Peter, feeling mighty foolish at this moment, blushed again and lowered his head in shame.

Ash came to him and sat on her knees if front of him. “Peter?” she cupped his chin in her hand.

Peter looked deep into her eyes and sighed. Suddenly, a few red hearts physically appeared above his head.

Ash looked at them and then at him. She smiled. “Aw, Peter…”

“Godammit!” Peter said nervously swatting the hearts from above his head. “I hate those things.”

“Peter…do you like me?”

“I mean, I just want to help you! I want you to be okay…and…I guess I’ve grown fond of you.”

“Peter that’s so sweet.” She smiled and kiss him on the cheek.

Peter’s nervousness turned into disappointment. What was he thinking? That she saw him as more than just a funny sidekick? No way. How could a human like her take him seriously? He should’ve known better. He forced a smile. “Yeah…I mean you’re stubborn as all hell, but—”

“Heh. Is that your type? Stubborn? Noir seems like he’s pretty stubborn.”

“Oh you know about that? Well I wouldn’t say I have a type. I just like people who make me feel happy.”

“I make you feel that way?”

“Y-yeah.”

“That’s surprising. I’m not that great. I’m flattered that you feel that way. The thing is—”

“I get it. This.” He gestured between them. “Is too strange for you right? I understand. I’m not even sure why I told you. I just couldn’t say goodbye before saying how I felt.”

Ash was silent. Only looking at Peter with sad eyes.

Feeling pretty stupid, Peter took a step away from her.

“Peter, I feel the same way about you. Without you I’d be in a gutter somewhere. You’ve been such a big help to me and no man or woman has ever helped me the way you have. You barely know me and yet you still have done wonders to help me. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me. I think you’re great. Wonderful. Amazing. I think it’s impossible for me to not feel something for you.”

“You really feel the same? You aren’t just humoring me?”

Ash took Peter by the arm and pulled him into her. She lifted his head up to face hers and brushed her lips against his before pressing them together.

Peter began to literally lift off of the ground and float in place. He didn’t know if the fireworks going off in his head were real or not, but he knew this felt amazing. He took a risk putting his hands to her face and kissing her deeper, hoping she wouldn’t mind.

It was clear Ash wanted this when she smiled against his lips…either that or there was something she found humorous about the situation. She pulled away slowly disconnecting the two.

Peter blinked twice before losing his air and hitting the floor. “Well then… that happened.” He chuckled.

“It did. And it felt good. It felt right.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I might change the rating...not sure why I didn't in the first place. But anyway there will be sex in the next chapter


End file.
